The Wahpeton times., 1887-12-15

aud wherever tR1 cups Of the feelerii
had taken hold there were livid spot.
and blisters, hut neither the blood
had been sucked out nor any OF sth,
flesh eaten. Idonot think any effort
of ours scared the creature into Civ
ing up the dead. It had retained itt
hold until certain that lite
had departed. and had, per
haps, chung to it the longer
for our attempts. The natives said
that my heaving the stones into ths
water had annoyed the octopus and
brought him up for q fight, and that
but for my action we should have
seen nothing Of him.
For over four years was mate and
master OF q samll schooner plying be.
tween the Spice islands and Singapore,
in the interest of an American trader.
I do not think / made single trip
without SEEING from one to doz.
en- OF the horrible devil fish,, One
day in the Banda sea it fell calm, and
q current drifted us close in upon an
island to the north of the Lesser
Timor. We let 60 the anchor in a
little bay. and when the schooner
brought up she was in twelve feet oi
water, and within fifty feet of the
beach. The island was about three
miles long by one broad. and covered
with forest and underbrush. 1t was
charted as uninhabi.ed, except occa.
sionally by pearl divers or wreckers,
and as the weather bade fair to hold
pleasant, no anchor watch was set.
As the weather was hot, the sailors
slept on deck, there being one white
man and fivenatives. Everything pass.
ed off quietly until just in the gray OF
morning. when terrible commotion
on deck routed me out. 1t seemed
that an octopus had crawled up the
low side OF the schooner, perhaps to
crafty it's curiosity, but seeing the
So te "sn eratify S@ itps psFhsps eprosit9 a.,
flung a feeler at one OF them and tax.
EN- such hold OF his hand and arm
that he awoke with shout of pain.
The others were also aroused, and see.
ing what had happened they seized
whatever weapons were at hand and
made the octopus release it's hold. 1
came on deck just as it fel! into the
water alongside, and the splash was
as heavy as if a man had fallen over.
board. Aportion Of the feeler which
had grasped the sailor had been brok-
en- off by the blows. There were three
or four feet OF it, and for a time It
squirmed and twisted about the deck
like q snake. 1t had touched the mans
flesh only in one spot ON the back of
the hand, but he made as much ado
over it as one would O bullet in the
leg. 1t was horrible wound, however.
The flesh was puckered up and blis-
tered, and the spot where the cup had
taken hold looked like an erysipelas
core. 1t was a long four weeks before
the wound healed. and the scar lett
closely resembled that of O burn.
I had the sailor in the cabin Dress
ing his hand, and it was twenty min.
utes after we had beaten off the octo.
pus, when there was another cry from
the deck, and heard the men run for.
ward and tumble into the forecastle
and slide the cover. More from in
stinct than any thought of danger 1
closed the cabin door, and then the
skylight that lighted the cabin. There
was q slide door in the forecastle bulk.
head communicating with the hold,
and also one from the cabin. After
txo or three minutes the sailors came
climbing over the cargo-we being
about one-third full-and let them
into the cabin. never saw q more
frightened lot OF men, and could not
at first believe the story they told.
They said that when the octopus fell
into the water he swan off in the di.
rection OF q rocky reef on our port
quarter, and distant about 200 feet.
After q few minutes the men noticed
a considerable commotion in the
water, and sgradually approached.
All at once they made out five or six
octopuses at the vessels side, and be.
fore they drew back and ran away the
monsters were throwing their teelers
over the bulwarks. .
''There's one of 'em, sir-there's
one!" shouted the mats at this mo.
ment, and We turned our faces to the
skylight, to see three or four of the
horrible feelers playing over it. At
the same moment the schooner was
canted to port with a sudden pull all
of three streaks, or with as much force
as a strong puff of wind would have
exercised in the open sea. At this
movement all the natives broke out
into q yell OF alright. and, as ! sternly
rebuked them, one of them exclaimed:
"Oh! Captain, the devil fish have
come aboard, and not one OF us can
escape!'
There was no longer any doubt
that we were beset by the Great
ures. There was not q second IN
which the feelers were not play
ing over the skylight.and others could
be heard fastening to and dragging
things about the deck. As the entire
affair was afterward put in writing,
sworn to by every man on board, and
lett with the representative of the
British government at Surai,aya, Isl.
and OF Java. shall not hesitate here
to stateparticulars. Thenoise on deck
might be likened to q row between
four or five men. Everything nova.
BILE was being moved and flung about.
My skylight had q hard. wood frame
aud heavy glass, and the feelers found
very little to grasp. The noise made
as the cups fastened to the glass by
suction and let go again was like the
snap OF q pair Of pincers. Looking
from the bulls eye in the stern Icould
see the water was ali in commotion,
although there was not breath of
air outside.
had a dozen muskets, rs many
pixies, several cutlasses and nine or
ten hatchets in the cabin. This was
schooner's regular armament, for we